How Vietnam Changed My Life Before I Even Fired a Shot

by Chuck Yarling

My Back Story

In 1952, after a visit to the University of Texas Engineering School Open House, I decided at the age of seven that I was going to get an engineering degree from the University of Texas in Austin. My whole life since then has been dedicated to completing that decision.

I started college in 1963 but was kicked out of the University of Texas Engineering Department in 1967. The reason? My mother became extremely ill, and I started taking care of her. This affected my study habits, which, in turn, resulted in low grades. After working with Dr. Leonardt Kreisle, an engineering counselor, I was allowed back into UT that fall—but I had to change my degree from BSEE to Math so I could graduate the next year. This change also resulted in my removal from four years of Air Force ROTC and any future as a commissioned officer.

I ended up graduating with my B.A. in Math in May 1968. My long-term plan now was to increase my overall GPA at the University of Texas while continuing to take engineering courses toward my BSEE after completing my military service.

However, recognizing I was going to be drafted, I decided to eliminate that uncertainty. After some solemn thinking, I made an appointment with an Army recruiter in San Antonio. I went down there and discussed with him the options open for me.

While there, I signed the paperwork to enter the Army for a two-year commitment beginning at the end of the summer after I graduated. I let the recruiter know that, with my bachelor’s degree, I wanted to enter the Intelligence AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and Intelligence OCS (Officer Candidate School) after basic training.

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I Finally Joined the U.S. Army

My service number was RA 18 737 396. On August 27, 1968, I hopped on a bus and traveled to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for eight weeks of basic training. After a couple of days getting shots and uniforms, I was assigned to Company C, First Battalion, First Training Brigade, and a barracks run by Sergeant Jones.

With my college degree and four years of Air Force ROTC, I was assigned as Squad Leader of Squad 1. The other three squads and the Platoon Leader were filled by members of the National Guard who were also getting their basic training.

Early in the first week, Sergeant Jones asked me to meet him in his office and told me a story about one soldier in my squad. Evidently, shortly after he arrived at Fort Polk, the soldier slit his wrists. The sergeant asked me to watch over him during our eight weeks of training and report any difficulties. So I did. Fortunately, there were very few problems, and I was able to address the ones that did occur with my actions and my voice.

Jones was a true ball-buster. On the first weekend—in the middle of the night—he overturned many of our footlockers, spread their contents on the floor, and then woke us up yelling, “Who messed up your footlockers?” Then he told us to go outside and had all the troops—except for the five of us leaders—low-crawl around the barracks and do pushups until they dropped. Then he yelled at us troop leaders: “If this happens again, you five are going to do the low crawls and pushups.” And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened one week later.

But Jones had a softer side, treating us five leaders on some weekends in his office. He offered us liquor, and we’d trade each other B.S. stories. It was a truly memorable experience.

At the end of basic training, we put on our short-sleeved green uniforms and hopped on a plane for our AIT. We arrived at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for Combat Engineering AIT. We basically started shaking after leaving the plane because it was really cold compared to the much warmer Louisiana.

You will obviously note that this was not Intelligence AIT. To this day, I never learned how I didn’t get into the field I told the recruiter I wanted. Did he lie by not telling me? Or did I miss something in the paperwork I signed? Who knows!

Once there, I was sent to Company D, 2nd Battalion, First AIT Brigade (Pioneer) for 8 weeks of Combat Engineering AIT.

That eight weeks was tough because most of what we learned was outside during October and November in cold weather. One thing we did learn was to light candles in our tents to keep warm at night. Surprisingly, they did the trick.

Afterwards, I spent the month of December back home while waiting for Combat Engineering OCS, which was set to start in January.

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Fort Belvoir and Vietnam

So, in January 1969, I made my way to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for Combat Engineering OCS. Within the first two weeks, my left leg began bothering me from an injury that had occurred during my last couple of weeks at AIT. I finally went to the hospital on base and ended up with a thigh-to-ankle cast and was placed in a holding company.

Sometime later, I got the cast removed and started running to get back in shape to rejoin OCS. However, I was told that was never going to happen, which immediately told me I was going to Vietnam. I returned to Austin and stayed with friends for about two weeks before I hopped on a plane to Vietnam.

On my trip to Saigon, an interesting situation occurred. The pilot—or someone in control—demanded we close the screens on our windows. As an engineer, I questioned to myself why we had to do this. My only thought was that there were U2 planes on the runways and we weren’t supposed to see them—or maybe I was just out to lunch. I never got any explanation for this event.

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Arrival in Vietnam

Near the first week of July 1969, our plane landed at the Saigon airport. I think we were in a holding company, given shots, and then issued our orders. Mine led me to another plane ride and my first assignment in Quang Ngai: Company C, 26th Combat Engineer Battalion stationed up in Chu Lai. I quickly learned that Quang Ngai was about 12 to 15 kilometers (about 7.5 to 9 miles) from My Lai.

For those who may not remember, the Tet Offensive began in January 1968 when forces from the Viet Cong 48th Local Force Battalion attacked American positions in Quang Ngai City. The My Lai Massacre occurred on March 16, 1968, when American forces killed women, children, and older civilians during a search-and-destroy mission in the area. So my arrival to Quang Ngai was barely fifteen months after the My Lai episode.

Also near the first week of July 1969, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) George Ellis, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 11th Brigade, was given the mission to select a site for a firebase in the valley west of Quang Ngai City, South Vietnam. This base was named Fire Support Base (FSB) Hill 4-11, later shortened to LZ 4-11.

The mission of Company C, stationed at Quang Ngai, was to build permanent structures to support and house the military forces stationed on this firebase.

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Guard Duty and MEDCAPS

Early after my arrival, I was sent to LZ 4-11 to join other members of my company. Then I was sent to the perimeter of our base for guard duty. This is where it got really interesting. Sometime after dark, I heard explosions far away from our location.

I started to sneak to a foxhole when one of the other guys calmed me down and explained what I heard was H&I explosions—Harassment and Interdiction fire—from our artillery forces a couple of miles away. Whew! I finally settled down to finish my first night of guard duty.

I don’t remember how long I was at the base before returning to Quang Ngai. Then I got another surprise. One night, a member of the first aid team woke me up and asked if I wanted to “visit” one of the Vietnamese women they brought to our camp. I said no and went back to sleep.

Eventually they got caught, but later figured out another way to sneak the women into camp. They never bothered me again after the first time.

One day I was assigned to join a Medical Civil Action Patrol mission—otherwise known as MEDCAPS. The purpose was to treat women, children, and older folks in nearby villages.

On the trip to a local village, I rode in the back of a truck, armed with an M79 grenade launcher and a .45-caliber handgun in a holster. We returned to Quang Ngai when we either ran out of medical supplies or had treated everyone who came to see us. This trip was made without any undue disturbances!

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Final Months

There was one more memorable experience during my approximate one-month stay at Company C. Back at LZ 4-11, I had stripped down and stepped outside my tent to take a shower. During the session, I happened to glance up and saw an RPG launched into our camp. I quickly quit my shower, dove into my tent, and threw myself on the ground—we had no shelters in place yet.

Meanwhile, soldiers fought the attackers. Sometime during the attack, we saw an Air Force AC-47—“Puff, the Magic Dragon”—one of the first fixed-wing gunships. As this went on, most of us gathered outside our tents drinking beer and soft drinks and clapping until the plane completed its mission.

Not long after this episode, I received a message from HQ Company of the 26th Combat Engineer Battalion telling me I was wanted there immediately. After arriving, Sergeant Burns told me they hired soldiers with degrees throughout the battalion to replace clerks who had gone home. I was now hired as an Awards Clerk, and I spent the next eleven months in that role until returning home in the first week of July 1970.

And yes, that fall, I went back to the University of Texas and graduated with my BSEE later in 1976—six years after I got back from Vietnam. I had finally completed my 24-year-long plan. I went on to complete a wonderful 25-year international career in the semiconductor manufacturing industry!

And if you ask whether my long-time plan was worth it? You betcha it was!

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Chuck Yarling 

Spec 5, US Army

HQ Co., 26th Combat Engineering Bn.

Chu Lai, Vietnam (1969-1970)

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.